Detroit Railfanning

All Facets of O-Gauge, 3-Rail, Model Railroading
ogauge47

Re: Detroit Railfanning

Postby ogauge47 » Sun Apr 09, 2017 3:04 pm

4/9

NS 15J heads up the Conrail Detroit line with empty autoracks for Conrail

Image

CSX Y122 heads back to Rougemere with an SD40-3 leading

Image

CP 141 heads past Delray tower

Image

NS ES44AC 8076 pulling off of the Boat Line

Image

A trio of GTW locomotives at Schaefer Yard

Image

NS 60T stopped just short pf the platforms at Dearborn's Amtrak Station on the Michigan Line

Image

User avatar
MurphOnMillerAve
Posts: 18489
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 9:18 pm
Location: Kennywood Park
Contact:

Re: Detroit Railfanning

Postby MurphOnMillerAve » Sun Apr 09, 2017 3:45 pm

ogauge47 wrote:4/9

...
A trio of GTW locomotives at Schaefer Yard

Image
...

Does anybody know what that semi-arch thing is standing there on its own.

User avatar
rogruth
Posts: 24452
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2005 7:32 pm
Location: pembroke,ga

Re: Detroit Railfanning

Postby rogruth » Sun Apr 09, 2017 6:51 pm

That was part of the electrical overhead put in during Henry Ford's ownership of the DT&I.
I'm sure Lucas can tell more.
roger

I support thread drift.
If God didn't want women to be looked at, He would have made 'em ugly. RAH

ogauge47

Re: Detroit Railfanning

Postby ogauge47 » Sun Apr 09, 2017 7:41 pm

MurphOnMillerAve wrote:
ogauge47 wrote:4/9

...
A trio of GTW locomotives at Schaefer Yard

Image
...

Does anybody know what that semi-arch thing is standing there on its own.



The half-arch is an old stub-end track on the formerly electrified DT&I mainline. Henry Ford electrified the DT&I while it was under his ownership. The plan back then was to eventually connect to the Milwaukee Road (also electrified at the time) but things never panned out and the electrification was scrapped not long after its introduction. A majority of the line from Dearborn to Flat Rock still has the concrete arches- they were built to last and it was deemed too costly to tear them down

A couple pictures of the still-standing DT&I arches

Image

Image

Double-track variant

Image

User avatar
MurphOnMillerAve
Posts: 18489
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 9:18 pm
Location: Kennywood Park
Contact:

Re: Detroit Railfanning

Postby MurphOnMillerAve » Mon Apr 10, 2017 6:41 am

Thank you, Roger, for that information on that half- arch, and Thank You, Lucas for those definitive photos and explanation of their original use!
Those arches look so modern, and they must have been built really well for you to tell us they had been considered too expensive to remove, which also tells me they weren't considered to be potentially troublemaking if left standing.
Thanks, again, guys.
Murph

User avatar
chuck
Posts: 5867
Joined: Thu May 27, 2004 7:43 pm
Location: Plymouth, Michigan
Contact:

Re: Detroit Railfanning

Postby chuck » Mon Apr 10, 2017 8:54 am

They have no salvage value and would be a pain in the * to tear down.

The electrification project never made it to full fruition because the anticipated excess electricity from the generators never materialized. There is an excellent book on the Rouge complex "The Rouge, Pictured in it's Prime" by Ford R. Bryan. There are some photo's of the thermos bottle yard switchers that were fueled by direct steam charges from the boilers at the plant.

Incredible complex. Sand (for glass and casting purposes), limestone, coal, iron ore, rubber, etc. were delivered to the site and were turned into motor vehicles.
Once I built a railroad, I made it run,
Made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad, now it's done --
Brother, can you spare a dime?

User avatar
Roy
Posts: 7849
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2010 7:48 pm
Location: Lakewood, CA

Re: Detroit Railfanning

Postby Roy » Mon Apr 10, 2017 9:07 am

chuck wrote:Incredible complex. Sand (for glass and casting purposes), limestone, coal, iron ore, rubber, etc. were delivered to the site and were turned into motor vehicles.

Was Ford the first vertically integrated company?
Torturers, White Racists, Gay Bashers, Rich Psychopaths.

User avatar
chuck
Posts: 5867
Joined: Thu May 27, 2004 7:43 pm
Location: Plymouth, Michigan
Contact:

Re: Detroit Railfanning

Postby chuck » Mon Apr 10, 2017 10:03 am

Was Ford the first vertically integrated company?


Of that size and complexity, yes.

Russian's were so impressed they used the Rouge complex as a model for their GAZ plant in the 1930's.
Once I built a railroad, I made it run,
Made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad, now it's done --
Brother, can you spare a dime?

User avatar
Arthur P. Bloom
Posts: 754
Joined: Wed Dec 13, 2006 6:07 pm
Location: Eastern Long Island
Contact:

Re: Detroit Railfanning

Postby Arthur P. Bloom » Mon Apr 10, 2017 2:38 pm

Google "Fordlândia" for an interesting description of how far Mr. Ford ventured into vertical integration.
"I'll have the roast duck...with the mango salsa."

User avatar
Roy
Posts: 7849
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2010 7:48 pm
Location: Lakewood, CA

Re: Detroit Railfanning

Postby Roy » Mon Apr 10, 2017 5:51 pm

Arthur P. Bloom wrote:Google "Fordlândia" for an interesting description of how far Mr. Ford ventured into vertical integration.

Interesting. I already knew something about the South American rubber plantations, some of which employed slave labor. Many indigenous people died.
Torturers, White Racists, Gay Bashers, Rich Psychopaths.

ogauge47

Re: Detroit Railfanning

Postby ogauge47 » Wed Apr 19, 2017 6:41 pm

4/19


NS 422, with loaded coke crosses over I-94 in Dearborn, MI

Image

J. S. Bach
Posts: 5820
Joined: Wed May 16, 2007 8:30 pm

Re: Detroit Railfanning

Postby J. S. Bach » Wed Apr 19, 2017 9:47 pm

ogauge47 wrote:4/19 NS 422, with loaded coke crosses over I-94 in Dearborn, M

I hope the DEA does not find out.

ogauge47

Re: Detroit Railfanning

Postby ogauge47 » Tue Apr 25, 2017 6:08 pm

4/25

Went up to Durand and Owosso, MI to shoot the CN, Great Lakes Central and Huron & Eastern

GLC GP35 393 pulling into Owosso with northbound freight. 393 is an ex-Ann Arbor locomotive

Image

CN M397 just west of Durand

Image

Image

CN M396 at CP Clara, approaching the Durand diamond

Image

CN M398 followed shortly after

Image

Huron & Eastern comes around the wye at Durand, to shove back into the yard

Image

CN A451

Image

CN L502

Image

Backing into the yard with interchange cars for GLC and HESR

Image

ogauge47

Re: Detroit Railfanning

Postby ogauge47 » Sun Apr 30, 2017 5:03 pm

4/30

A southbound CSX autorack train passes under the Pere Marquette searchlight signals in Romulus, MI. April 30th 2017 is the last day of operation for these signals, modern Safetran signals are to be cut over May 1st

Image

CP 141

Image

CP 243

Image

Union Pacific DPU

Image

CP 244

Image

CN SD40-2W at Schaefer Yard

Image

ogauge47

Re: Detroit Railfanning

Postby ogauge47 » Mon May 01, 2017 5:51 pm

5/1
Not necessarily Detroit, but close enough. Swanton, Ohio

Conrail Cadillac on an eastbound intermodal

Image

Westbound oil train with BNSF power

Image

NS 24N

Image

Eastbound junk freight

Image

New staging yard for coal trains being built

Image

Image


Return to “O-Gauge, 3-Rail, Model Railroading”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 12 guests